In Reflection.

So Here's A Pop Culture Moment ...... it's 1983, or maybe 1984. In either case, your humble blogger was just a lad of 13 or 14 and struggling mightily to learn to play bass guitar. We'd been enlisted into our junior high jazz ensemble by an enthusiastic teacher who needed a bass player.

Having caught the pop music bug, we said "Sure." Just four strings, right? Two fewer than guitar. No chords involved. Couldn't be that hard.

So, there we are, one Saturday afternoon, probably in the spring. We're pretty sure we'd rather be outside.

There's a piece of sheet music sitting on a music stand in front of us. And no matter what we do, the code will not unlock itself.

It's a walking bass part, a series of interconnected eighth notes. It's supposed to be funky.

We are far from funky. And a concert was approaching.We struggle a bit more. Probably despair. Definitely take a break.

And when we return, the song is on the radio. We take another crack at the sheet music. And in that moment, somewhere in the sunshine of a day in the early 1980s, something happens: The song unlocks itself, and the music flows.

We find the notes. And we lock in with the song on the radio.

The song is "Billie Jean," by Michael Jackson. And the bass part -- that bass part!! -- is one of the most indelible in American popular music.

So for the rest of the afternoon, it's just us and Michael, grooving on that bass part, lost in the music.

And if anyone ever asks, that's how we'll remember him.

The rest of today's news starts after the jump.

Lehigh County Executive ... ... Don Cunninghamhas decided he will not seek the governor's office in 2010.Cunningham cited family concerns and time constraints for his decision,
but was trailing badly in the all-important fundraising race.By now, a serious candidate should have $3.5 million, state Democratic Chairman T.J. Rooney
said. Cunningham has $727,000. Perceived front-runner Dan Onorato, the
Allegheny County executive, has $4.1 million. More telling perhaps,
Onorato raised $200,000 in a recent month compared with $9,000 for
Cunningham.''These are particularly challenging times for all local and county
governments, and I've decided it's not the time to have an 'absentee'
county executive,'' Cunningham said in a statement released Thursday.He had not officially declared his intent to run for governor, but had
been making the rounds among the state's political power brokers in
hopes of drumming up support for his bid. He has also been running for
re-election and said he will continue to do so.
A former two-term mayor of Bethlehem and one-time cabinet secretary to
Gov. Ed, Cunningham had long been considered a rising star in
Democratic circles. But with relatively little money and no political
base outside the state's largest population zones, he was considered a long-shot.
As late as last week, Cunningham had left open the possibility of
continuing his gubernatorial run, but acknowledged his fund-raising had
suffered in part because he ''was not in a position'' to beat the
bushes for money, ''like Onorato has been doing.''Cunningham took a shot at the importance of fund-raising, particularly in the early stages of the campaign.
''We have come to know that money is the only real prerequisite for the
media, the punditry and the insider community to assess candidates,''
he said in the statement. ''Personal wealth and/or access to wealthy
donors are more important than a textbook full of ideas in the insider
world. Those are simply the ground rules of the game.''
In his statement, Cunningham indicated his children come before a statewide campaign.
''This summer, I often found myself at Little League baseball games
when my political staff wanted me on the road or making fund-raising
calls,'' he said. ''But I've learned there are some things you don't
get back.''Onorato
remains the perceived front-runner for the Democratic nomination next May. Auditor General Jack Wagner has made rumblings about a possible run, as has wealthy businessman Tom Knox.Wagner's
latest campaign finance report shows $357,181 on hand. Knox has not yet filed a report.

Another Group Of State Prison Inmates ......will be paid during a government shutdown
this summer -- even if their guards and caretakers are not.
These are inmates who largely sit idle, but promise to behave or do odd
jobs while waiting for openings in work or treatment programs, a
spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections confirmed yesterday.
Roughly 7,000 inmates receive 72 cents a day for participating in what
the department calls its ''general labor pool,'' waiting roughly six
months before being assigned a job or placed in treatment.
Paid 12 cents an hour, the inmates ''are expected to behave, not
receive any misconducts and perform general duties when called upon,''
spokeswoman Sue Bensinger said. Inmates who ''refuse to behave or
perform duties do not receive the pay.''This Very Newspaper reported Wednesday that the 31,175 inmates who
participate in work programs in the state's 27 correctional
institutions would continue to receive wages ranging from 19 cents to
42 cents an hour even as prison guards and other state employees face
the prospect of a summer without paychecks.
The Rendellies say it's safer to keep inmates busy.
The state's prison system, meant to hold 43,000 prisoners, houses more
than 50,000.
''We believe it helps maintain order in the institutions,'' spokesman Chuck Ardo said.
State lawmakers and the Rendell administration have until midnight
Tuesday to reach an accord on a new state budget. Officials already
have warned that state employees -- including prison guards -- will
start going without paychecks in mid-July if the two sides can't reach
agreement.
The decision to continue to pay inmates has angered leaders of the group that represents 10,600 corrections officers.Donald G. McNany, the president of the Pennsylvania
State Corrections Officers Association, has said that if guards have to
go without paychecks during a shutdown this summer, then inmates
should, too.
At a news conference Thursday, Rendell said he hoped to avert the need
for a shutdown. ''They're going to get paid every dollar,'' he said.
''They just might not get paid on time.''
The money the inmates earn in the Corrections Department work program
comes from jobs ranging from serving meals to cleaning cell-blocks.
The wages enable them to buy medication, snacks and other necessities
from prison commissaries, said William DiMascio of the Pennsylvania
Prison Society, a Philadelphia-based group that advocates on behalf of inmates and their families.
Inmates who participate in work programs, along with general labor pool
participants who perform such tasks as shoveling snow or clearing
leaves, are paid out of an account known as the ''Inmate General
Welfare Fund.''
As of Wednesday, the account had a balance of $10.2 million. It
receives its funding from sales at prison commissaries, vending machine
sales in prison visiting rooms, and from the proceeds of pay telephone
calls made by prisoners, the Corrections Department said.
To help meet a $1 million-a-month prisoner payroll, the Corrections
Department submits reimbursement requests from the Welfare Fund to the
state, which takes 30 to 45 days to get processed.
If there's a government shutdown, Bensinger said, those reimbursement
requests would stop. And they wouldn't resume until there's a budget
accord.Matthew Brouillette, president of the free-market favoring Commonwealth
Foundation, a Harrisburg think-tank, said the fiscal effect of a $1
million-a-month inmate payroll amounted to a ''rounding error'' in a
state budget deficit now pegged at $3.2 billion.

After Lightly Sauteeing Him ...... for an hour or so yesterday, the Senate Environmental Resources & Energy Committee sent acting DCNR Secretary John Quigley's nomination to the full Senate for its approval. While he was not subjected to the vigorous smacking around suffered by other Rendell cabinet officials who have appeared before Senate panels recently, Quigley did face some pointed quesitons about the administration's PR strategy regarding the state budget (Y'know, the whole "The Senate Is Evil" press release campaign and statewide bus tour.).

A Hundred Million Here, A Hundred Million There Dept.Some time today, the Rendellies are expected to release their much-touted list of the $500 million in cuts they're making to their proposed budget. Watch this space for further details.

Mrs. Sestak Says "Yes" (Again).Yesterday came news that U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak had gotten the
go-ahead from his father on a Senate run ("absolutely, why not?" he
says his father told him, Plum Line reported). Now comes word from Sestak that he's gotten the all-clear from his wife, our bloggy cousin, Pennsylvania Avenue, reports."My
wife is fully supportive of it," Sestak said in an interview,
shortly after he addressed a crowd of union activists at a Capitol Hill
brewery.But, he said, he's still in the process of talking about a 2010 run
with his daughter. Sestak, for those out of the loop, has been
slow-walking his official announcement that he'll challenge new Democrat (and comedy team partner) Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary next year.He said his daughter has "got to know that I'm going to have an 11-and-a-half month deployment throughout the Keystone State.""She understands that I'm about to leave her," he said. "Her last
day of school was yesterday. We're finishing up our discussions and
she'll be there."Asked about the poll releasedy yesterday that showed Snarlen in poor
standing among Pennsylvanians, Sestak responded: "They just want a
choice. They don't want to be dictated by Washington D.C."Asked whether they'll have a choice in the end, Sestak responded, "Oh yeah."That's about as definitive as it gets.

Terrible Towel Go Bragh!!Pittsburgh Steelers patriarch Dan Rooney has been confirmed as the new U.S. ambassador to Ireland, opening the possibility for hilarious incidents of misunderstanding as the Irish brogue runs headlong into the Yinzer accent."Didjeet jet? Yinz gwin dawntawn an 'at to have a sammich at da pub?" Rooney will undoubtedly ask at some point."We cannae understan what ye sayin'," some poor Irishman will likely respond, pausing from a fistfight with his neighbor over whether William Butler Yeats was, in fact, the greatest poet in the history of the English language.Nonetheless, the appointment was cheered by another Irishman, U.S. Sen. Hermetic Bob, whose office released an appropriately emotional statement yesterday."I am very pleased that the U.S. Senate has confirmed my friend Dan Rooney to be
ambassador to Ireland," Casey said, clog-dancing madly as penny whistles, stringed instruments and bodhrain drums keened mournfully in the background Quickly downing a pint of Guniness in a not-at-all stereotypically Irish way, as he put on U2's latest album, Casey added:"This speedy confirmation will allow Dan Rooney
to get to work as a bridge between the United States and Ireland. In
the Steelers' loss the United States gains a humble and knowledgeable public
servant.” EdWatch (TM):Gov. Ed holds an 11:30 a.m. presser in the Reception Room.In The Blogosphere.GrassrootsPA has your daily dose of frankly surreal crime news; Young Philly Politics has some anti-casino fun; Tony Phyrillas has some news about the new "Transformers" movie (partly shot in Bethlehem); PAProgressive on a healthcare rally in D.C. yesterday; I've Made A Huge Tiny Mistake on the second-most famous moonwalk in U.S. history; Above Average Jane has some "Thriller" observations; Pam Varkony says numbers don't always tell the story; Capri made some fettucini primavera (yum!); Wonkette finds a rapper on the floor of the Louisiana state House; PA's own Suburban Guerrilla posts to Crooks and Liars on WMD; Andrew Sullivan on "tweeting wolf", and Glenn O'Brien on some tools of the trade.

On The Capitol Ideas iPod This Morning.Here's that bass part we were telling you about earlier in today's post: